The culture wars that consumed American society in the 1990s seems to have landed in Korea, with value-driven issues such as gay marriage and abortion proving to be hot button issues.

Korea’s Ministry of Justice is no stranger to controversy, being the center of debate in a conflict over investigative prerogatives between the national police and prosecutors. But even weathered Korean justice officials have little experience when it comes to matters of gender and sexuality, as such issues have been customarily overlooked in Korea’s relatively conservative society.

SOUTH KOREA – Women’s right groups urge Constitutional Court to acquit doctor and reform abortion law

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
June 1, 2018

In 2017, following a petition that garnered a huge number of signatures and demonstrations in support of abortion law reform, a coalition of feminist groups, social movement groups and progressive parties was formed in South Korea, called Joint Action for Reproductive Justice.

On 24 May 2018, the coalition held a press conference in front of the Constitutional Court, where the Court was hearing a case brought by a doctor who had been criminally charged for carrying out abortions. The last time the abortion law was challenged, in 2012, the Court ruled to maintain the law. Although apparently rarely enforced, the law imposes a two-year jail term on doctors for conducting abortions, while women who have abortions are fined 2 million won ($1,850) or may face one year in jail.

Six years after upholding abortion ban, the Constitutional Court is reviewing whether or not abortion should be decriminalized.

In August 2012, the court’s four judges out of the eight-judge panel voted to keep the ban. The other four voted to overturn it. The panel failed to get six votes in favor of overturning it, which led to the conclusion that abortion would be illegal in Korea.

Amicus Brief: Decriminalization on Abortion in South Korea
May 22, 2018

I. Introduction

Human Rights Watch has the honor of submitting this amicus brief in connection with case 2017Hun-Ba127, which is before the Constitutional Court of Korea (Constitutional Court). This case involves a review of the constitutionality of the Republic of Korea (South Korea)’s criminal law on abortion.

Under articles 269 and 270 of the Criminal Act, abortion is a crime, and any woman who undergoes an abortion risks up to one year of imprisonment or fines up to 2 million won (US$1850). Healthcare workers who provide abortions can face up to two years in prison, or more under certain circumstances.[1]

South Korea Should Accept Recommendations to Abolish the Death Penalty and Decriminalize Abortion

March 15, 2018
South Korea UPR Adoption

Human Rights Watch welcomes the adoption of the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review of the Republic of Korea, which reflects recommendations to protect freedom of expression and assembly and the rights of vulnerable workers, women, foreigners, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups, including single parents. The outcome also addresses continued support of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, including OHCHR work on human rights abuses in North Korea and the formulation and adoption of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law.

SEOUL, South Korea — Lee Na-yeon was 18 years old and in her first semester in college when she discovered, to her dismay, that she was pregnant.

Ms. Lee went to a hospital and had an abortion. But as a graduate of a Catholic high school where she had been shown graphic videos portraying abortion as murder, she felt scared and tormented by guilt. She had also broken the law.

Abortion is illegal in South Korea with just a few exceptions, such as when a woman has been raped or her health is at risk. It is one of just a handful of the world’s richest countries to have such restrictive abortion laws. Women can be sentenced to a year in prison or ordered to pay fines of two million won (about $1,840) for having abortions, while doctors who perform them can get up to two years in prison.

Taboo No More? Abortion in South Korea
Responding to a public petition, the Moon administration will take a close look at the current abortion ban.

By Clint Work
December 09, 2017

In August, the Moon administration announced it would publicly respond to any petition posted to the Blue House website that received more than 200,000 signatures. On September 30, a petition emerged calling for the decriminalization of abortion and legalization of abortion pills, based on a woman’s right to her own body. By late October, the petition surpassed the threshold required for public comment, and (as of this writing) has received a total of 235,372 signatures. In a video posted November 26, Blue House Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk offered the government’s response.

Cho said the government would conduct a fact-finding study next year to accurately determine the status of abortion in South Korea, gather public opinion data on the issue, and examine the reasons behind the criminal ban on the practice. The last such study, conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, occurred in 2010. Although previously carried out at five-year intervals, the funds apparently were unavailable in 2015 under the administration of Park Geun-hye.

It is a cliche in Korean soap operas for the vicious and disapproving mother of the male lead to pressure the female lead to “remove” the baby she’s expecting. She soon disappears, struggles through life as a single mom, and later by chance reunites with the man who, after finding out she didn’t give up the baby despite stigma and obstacles, falls back in love with her.

All of this is as if abortion were a valid option for women in South Korea.

But, under the anti-abortion law introduced in 1953, the termination of pregnancy is only permissible when the mother faces serious health risks or in cases of rape, incest or hereditary disorders. Even in those cases, abortion is prohibited after the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.